Mary Lou McDonald
Question:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the north-east inner city oversight group chaired by the Secretary General of his Department. [49703/22]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Departmental Functions
Ivana Bacik
Question:2. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the north-east inner city oversight group chaired by the Secretary General of his Department. [53392/22]
I propose to take questions Nos. 1 and 2, inclusive, together.
The north-east inner-city, NEIC, programme implementation board, chaired by an independent chairperson, meets on a monthly basis to oversee and progress the implementation of the Mulvey report and the next strategic plan 2020-2022. Members of the board include representatives from relevant Government Departments and agencies, businesses and the local community. The chair of the board reports to an oversight group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, whose membership comprises senior civil servants across Departments and agencies who are actively engaged with the work of the NEIC initiative.
This group ensures strong and active participation by all relevant Departments and Government agencies and deals with any barriers or issues highlighted by the board. The oversight group does not meet to a set schedule but is convened at the request of the Secretary General of my Department on an ad hoc basis to discuss and resolve challenges that arise through the work of the NEIC programme implementation board.
The group most recently met on 30 September, where discussions included the work being progressed by the NEIC programme implementation board under the areas of policing; educational, training and employment opportunities; family well-being, community well-being and the physical environment; substance use, misuse and inclusion health; and alignment of services. The agenda and discussion points of these meetings remain flexible to make sure each meeting is as dynamic as possible and produces the most effective results for Government Departments and agencies, community groups, stakeholders and the people of the north-east inner city of Dublin.
Both Deputy McDonald and I have raised the north inner-city drug and alcohol task force on multiple occasions with the Taoiseach over the past year and a half. Progress has been glacial, even by the Department of Health's standards. As a result, the task force in effect remains shut down. This represents a wider shift away from evidence-based community addiction responses. Fine Gael decimated task forces in the austerity years and they have never seen their funding returned. Inadequate co-funding has removed autonomy from task forces.
The Taoiseach knows addiction is complicated, trends move quickly and local responses are needed. Will the Taoiseach meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to discuss how to support task forces, in particular the north inner-city drug and alcohol task force, and bring back their autonomy?
The "Prime Time" programme on O'Connell Street highlighted again the many problems impacting on our city centre. It is not only a feature of the north-east inner city but also in my own constituency where residents in the south inner city have raised with me many concerns around crime and anti-social behaviour in their areas. Clearly this is a multifaceted problem requiring a multi-agency approach. Key to it is the presence of more visible community policing on the streets and I have raised that with local police and urge that that be a major element but there are other ways by which these issues can be addressed. Recently, my colleague Deputy Ó Riordáin and I met with Merchants Quay Ireland and heard its real concern at the delay in the introduction of supervised injecting facilities on its premises which is one way of addressing serious problems around open drug use on city streets which creates its own difficulties for local residents but very seriously it is also a health and safety issue for those injecting on the streets. A change in the law was secured by Deputy Ó Riordáin in 2015 to deliver supervised injecting facilities in the city centre but the plan has run into difficulty since. There is a real lack of urgency from this Government in pursuing and making progress on this. It is something that was agreed some years ago and which could be rolled out even on a mobile basis. Will the Government commit to the roll-out of other regional self injecting facility centres? Will it commit to addressing the serious concerns of inner city residents around the lack of visible community policing also?
There has been a lot of criticism about the state of O'Connell Street. It is a complex problem but it is mostly emblematic of a failure of Government policy on multiple fronts. I want to make a very simple point when people give out about activities that are going on on O'Connell Street. There used to be three supervised public toilets in the O'Connell Street vicinity. Now there is none. Particularly for people who are homeless, as a result of another failure of the State, there is nowhere to go to the bathroom. It is a basic thing. During Covid we managed to introduce supervised public toilets throughout the city. As soon as Covid was gone they were taken away. That is not just true in O'Connell Street but it is true in my area and many other areas. We showed we could have supervised public toilets and it was good and beneficial, but we removed them immediately. Many of the public toilets near O'Connell Street are still there. They are just gated up because we do not put the resources into providing them. That is a basic elementary thing that we could do as well as the supervised injection centres.
There are solutions that could make an immediate impact. Rather than demonising people or somehow giving the idea that O'Connell Street is a no-go area there are basic things that could be done by the local authority and the Government that would make a significant impact as well as improving the lot of people on O'Connell Street.
First, I am taken aback by Deputy Gould's comments. The north-east inner city initiative has not been going at a glacial pace. It has been very effective. I think that is widely acknowledged. I was recently at the restoration of Fitzgibbon Street Garda station and saw the community room in the station. There has been tremendous focus in the north-east inner city initiative. This year, €7.5 million will be allocated to it. He did make points on the broader issue around task forces more generally. Yesterday, at the Cabinet meeting on social affairs, I was pursuing an initiative with the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, that we would endeavour to reinvigorate local area partnerships and responses to create proper co-ordination but also an approach from the bottom up that would use and leverage from existing agencies, from Tusla to ETBs and the health service, to ensure that we can deal with addiction issues on the ground in many communities across the city and the country. We are progressing that proposal. We are making progress on that. Some significant work has been done in my Department on this initiative. An assistant secretary is overseeing and co-ordinating across all Departments an initiative and endeavouring to identify the 11 or 12 key areas of the country that need sustained, high-level attention on multiple issues including addiction and community development, education, school completion and many others. We are pursuing that broader issue.
The north-east inner city initiative does give us an interesting model of what works. For example, there was an external chair who was not involved in any particular stakeholder group who chaired that initiative. That has worked well. There have been significant initiatives coming out of it in investment and physical infrastructure, community facilities and so on.
On the broader issue which Deputy Bacik raised, I am willing to engage with her and Deputy Ó Riordáin on the injection facilities. My understanding was that there was opposition to planning and issues around planning.
Yes.
It is not that the Government is dragging its feet on that.
It is both, I think.
Well, no. If a planning application goes in and it is refused by the independent planning authorities then I do not think that we can blame the Government for that. In any event, I would be interested in consultations or engagement as to how we can progress a facility like that and in learning lessons about why it has not happened to date and the obstacles that it faced in planning and the issues around all of that.
On the broader issue of O'Connell Street and anti-social behaviour more generally, the budget has allocated further funding to An Garda Síochána to support high visibility policing and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and an additional €2.5 million for youth justice measures bringing the total investment to €24 million. The Minister for Justice and the Minister of State with responsibility for law reform met with the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, and the assistant commissioner, Angela Willis, from the Dublin Metropolitan Region to discuss safety and anti-social behaviour in Dublin and other areas following public concern over a number of incidents. The Minister asked the Commissioner to review the operation of anti-social behaviour legislation and procedures. She also asked the Commissioner about improving the use of anti-social behaviour orders, ASBOs, including the disparity in the use of ASBOs in different areas of the country.
In line with the programme for Government commitment, the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, established an expert forum on anti-social behaviour in 2020. This forum will examine the effectiveness of existing legislation and propose new ways forward including new powers for An Garda Síochána and additional interventions to support parenting of offenders. The forum is examining a broad range of issues with a focus on developing measures which will counter the negative impact on community morale and quality of life. There are two subgroups considering knife crime and the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes specifically. Other subgroups may be established. That is more detail on the medium-term response to some of the issues that were raised.
On O’Connell Street, I repeat what I said last week. I do think that we need to get on with the physical refurbishment of O’Connell Street. My own experience, having been on city councils in the past, is that streets can be transformed with investment in their streetscape. For a long time, with O’Connell Street and in and around Moore Street and the GPO, there has been exhaustive discussion among parties and political parties at local and national level, Deputy Ó Cuív was involved, trying to reconcile the various interests around the heritage site and so on. Eventually agreement was reached. There is not full unanimity on it and there are objections and so on. Until we get that transformed we will still be in trouble in relation to O’Connell Street. We live in a democracy and people are entitled to have perspectives but it is not enough just to say "that's wrong; that's wrong; that's wrong". We need to fix it. There are multiple ways to fix it.
A few supervised public toilets would be good, though.
There are issues around that too, and the Deputy knows that.
Not if they are supervised.
Would you support - through the Chair -----
I would not be asking open-ended questions.
I know we cannot do that. Apologies. But would the Deputy support the redevelopment of O'Connell Street as proposed by Hammerson?
Not Hammerson.
Well then we go another ten years for something else to come along. That is the problem.
That is not the problem.
We need to be honest with ourselves. We keep saying this must happen and that must happen but when someone comes forward with a proposal and it goes on for ten years trying to get agreement from everybody and we get an outcome and then we start opposing-----
Something needs to be done. Here is something: let us do that.
No, sorry. This has been long considered in great detail by everybody. Not me; I am not involved.
I do get impatient at our complaining about everything for decades and not reaching a compromise to get something done to transform streetscapes and bring about an improvement. Improvements have been made in other parts of the country to good effect. We have transformed towns and cities across the country and this has had a huge impact in tackling dereliction and behaviour that follows it.
Northern Ireland
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:3. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the shared island dialogue All-Island Women's Forum civic initiative. [49704/22]
Peadar Tóibín
Question:4. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will list the various companies, groups and organisations that have received funding as part of his Department's shared island investments; if he will provide a breakdown on the amounts of funding each received; and the purpose of it. [51562/22]
Bernard Durkan
Question:5. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach if efforts continue to be made through the shared island concept to ensure that the benefits of a shared island approach can be of major economic significance to the island of Ireland, north and south. [51636/22]
Mick Barry
Question:6. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the shared island dialogue All-Island Women's Forum civic initiative. [53213/22]
Bríd Smith
Question:7. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the shared island dialogue All-Island Women's Forum civic initiative. [53233/22]
Ivana Bacik
Question:8. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the shared island dialogue All-Island Women's Forum civic initiative. [53393/22]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 8, inclusive, together.
Through the Government's shared island initiative, we are engaging with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future and delivering tangible benefits for the whole island. This is underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. This work is proceeding on a whole-of-government basis and we are working with the Northern Ireland Executive, UK Government and cross-Border local-authority, education-institution and civil-society partnerships.
To date, the Government has allocated €140.4 million from the shared island fund to move forward with projects that implement commitments and objectives on the shared island initiative, as set out in the programme for Government and the revised national development plan. Shared island fund projects are taken forward by the relevant Minister and his or her Department, working through all-island partnerships. Allocations are included in departmental Votes, as needed, over a multi-annual period, managed by the relevant Department with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
The allocations from the shared island fund to date are €5 million for the shared island local authority development funding scheme; €3 million to bring the Narrow Water bridge project to tender; and €47 million for phases 2 and 3 of the Ulster Canal restoration, taken forward by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. There is €40 million for the North-South Research Programme and €20 million for all-island research centres, taken forward by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science. There is €15 million for the shared island electric vehicle charging infrastructure scheme and €3 million for a shared island strand in the community climate action programme, taken forward by the Minister for Transport and for the Environment, Climate and Communications. There is €7.4 million for shared island arts investment projects, taken forward by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Fostering inclusive and constructive dialogue is also central to our shared island approach.
More than 2,200 citizens and civic representatives have participated in 12 shared island dialogue events so far. This year, the events have been held in person and on a regional basis across the island. The All-Island Women's Forum, convened by the National Women's Council, was a very welcome follow-on from one of the early engagements as part of the dialogue series with women's representatives. The forum aims to address under-representation of women and further develop women's role in peace-building and civic society. Its work has been supported through the reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I was pleased to launch the forum's first report on 8 September. This set out its first term of work and made recommendations, for both jurisdictions on the island, on tackling gender-based violence, civic engagement, education, media and women's political participation. The Government will consider and positively engage with the forum's recommendations, consulting the Executive and the UK Government, as relevant.
The Government looks forward to continuing to engage with the All-Island Women's Forum as it continues to provide an important, necessary space for civic dialogue led by women, contributing to wider public debates and helping to shape the all-island civic agenda.
I commend the work of the All-Island Women's Forum and its commitment to fully inclusive engagement. One of the outcomes of its work is its highlighting of the urgent need to adopt a joint approach to tackling gender-based violence in all its forms. While the Departments of Justice in the North and the South share best practice in tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, there remains a shared challenge associated with a lack of disaggregated data both north and south. Much of this shared island focus is on research and data, so addressing the findings of the report could be a matter that the Taoiseach could advance before stepping down on 15 December. I ask him to consider that and commit to it.
The island of Ireland has one of the highest rates of domestic femicide in Europe. The former Minister for Justice initiated a study three and a half years ago. We understand that the lead has submitted the final report to the current Minister for Justice but that it has not been published. The current programme for Government commits to legislation to introduce domestic homicide reviews. We ask that this be delivered as soon as possible.
I welcome the Taoiseach's reply. I encourage a focus on the shared island initiative in the North and South, with particular reference to the economic benefits accruing and recognising the value of closer co-operation, building on what the Taoiseach has just referred to. There are considerable benefits associated with the sharing of the island. We should get away from the silo syndrome indicated in the results of a survey last year which showed that 62% of people in the South are negative about a united Ireland, shared island or any such arrangement on the basis of the cost. Everything has a cost. If we are serious about these matters, it is important that we give them our all in terms of support and enthusiasm and recognise the benefits accruing to us all on this shared island.
Last week, I asked the Taoiseach about the review into the State's abortion legislation, which is a matter of concern for women both north and south. He told me two pieces of research have been conducted, one by Dr. Catherine Conlon of Trinity College into the experience of women who have accessed abortion services here and a second carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University into the views and experiences of abortion providers. The Taoiseach mentioned that the Trinity College research was published in July but did not say anything about the Manchester Metropolitan University research being published. I have searched and cannot find it. Is it the case that it has not been published yet? If so, why would that be the case? When does the Taoiseach intend to publish it?
I wish to convey my best wishes to the organisers of this weekend's march in Dublin to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar and of this Saturday's Women Deserve Better march in Belfast, which calls on Sinn Féin's Minister for Communities to deliver on the promise of providing essential women's services, a promise that has not been met yet.
Since we are speaking about the shared island dialogue and the All-Island Women's Forum, I want to pay tribute to May Blood, from the Shankill area of Belfast, who died last week. May Blood was a committed trade unionist who fought for better conditions for the workforce, mainly women, in the linen mills. She was also a president of the Labour Party of Northern Ireland and played an invaluable grassroots role in the peace process through her work as a founding member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. One of her passions was integrated education. Her work on integrated education in Northern Ireland provides a pathway to addressing the divisions that remain. One of the recommendations of the All-Island Women's Forum was the expansion of integrated education and Educate Together models. It would therefore be a fitting tribute to May Blood to make progress on that now, particularly the recommendation on a joint North–South education scheme. Does the Government have any plans to act on this?
Given that it looks increasingly likely – ominously so – that an election will be called later this week for the Assembly, has the Taoiseach spoken yet to the new British Prime Minister and asked him to take any steps necessary to delay that prospect?
It appears that we are on the verge of the second Stormont election within six months. The DUP has used a boycott of Stormont to attempt to whip up sectarianism to stop its slide in the polls. The truth is that more and more people are seeing through its sectarian and Tory policies. This is the party that backed the disastrous policies of May, Johnson and Truss and failed to do anything about the cost-of-living crisis affecting working-class people in the North across the sectarian divide. Now, more than ever, we need socialists like Gerry Carroll in Stormont building an alternative to the status quo, supporting workers' struggles and putting forward a politics of class, not creed. Does the Taoiseach agree that the DUP should stop playing games with people's lives and drop this boycott? Is it not clear that a simple return to business as usual is not good enough, that the institutionalised sectarianism of Stormont has failed and that we need to be fighting for a socialist Ireland?
The Taoiseach mentioned investment in culture and arts in the shared island programme. I draw his attention to something that was raised in testimony at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight about the Irish film industry by both Equity, which represents artists and performers, and representatives of crew, the people who work behind the camera, if you like. Both of them were testifying to the fact that, even though we have a lot of State money going into the live action film area, the contracts that performers here get are grossly inferior to those in the UK or in the North in terms of their access to royalties for the future use of their performances and their general pay and conditions. That is also true for crew. As I stated to the Taoiseach many times, we must ensure the public investment in this country to develop the film industry is closely tied to decent conditions for performers and crew.
On the shared island dialogue, in particular the All-Island Women's Forum civic initiative, Deputy Gould made a point about the potential of research and shared data on domestic and gender-based violence in particular. We will pursue that. We have the capacity to do it working with the various groups North and South and the agencies that are in a position to collect the data and do the research. I will follow up on that. The recommendations put forward by the forum include the development of an all-island approach to ending gender-based violence. We would be interested in doing that and following up on it. Deputy Gould might be interested to know that next month the Minister for Justice is convening a shared island dialogue on tackling gender-based violence and abuse. That would be a very useful dialogue and engagement to bring this issue further forward. I would see merit in research that would look generally at the issue, but also at wider issues such as the under-representation of women on the island more generally. I have asked the shared island unit in my Department to consider that and to work in consultation with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the relevant Northern Ireland Executive departments.
On the further recommendations on the civic forums and their establishment, which was provided for under the Good Friday Agreement, the parties did not develop or show great enthusiasm for the civic forums, which was a mistake. We would support the recommendation from the women’s forum. There is potential for synergy in the development of a media partnership between broadcasters to amplify women’s voices, on gender quotas for assembly elections and local elections, and on a wider range of issues that overlap with those of the recommendations of the Citizen's Assembly on Gender Equality and the Oireachtas committee.
I agree with Deputy Durkan that there is tremendous potential here to concentrate on what we can do together as opposed to that which divides us. The whole ethos has been without prejudice to the constitutional position of people, that we plough ahead and make progress on a range of issues such as climate, biodiversity restoration, economic development, education and so on. The Deputy's points are well made.
Deputy Barry raised a more specific question. I will check that out in terms of the research by the Manchester Metropolitan University. I will ask the Minister for Health where that is. I do not see why it would not be published. I understand the UK Government has now come forward with the legislation in respect of termination of pregnancy services in Northern Ireland. There were issues on the ground in terms of getting that through the assembly when it was up and running prior to the last election, just as there was with the Irish language Act, so Westminster is facilitating the passage of both issues, which have been deadlocked for some time. That remains the position. There is a timeline for the review of the legislation on the termination of pregnancy in the Republic. The review is under way, and it is informed by the research the Deputy referenced. I hope the Minister will be in a position to bring recommendations from the review and to publish it in due course.
I concur with Deputy Bacik’s very strong tribute to May Blood and the contribution she made to reconciliation, integration and the promotion of a progressive perspective on the future of Northern Ireland and politics within the island, and to the Labour Party within Northern Ireland, which lost a lot of support over time. One of my first engagements in the North was when I was a young student. I went to the Shankill area to meet Alf Midgley, who was a social worker in the area. His father was a Labour Party MP, Harry Midgley. I got a very strong sense of his commitment to the working people of that area. The Labour Party has an honourable tradition within Northern Ireland. Because of the polarisation and the sectarianism and the degree to which the electoral system always gravitated towards getting people back into trenches, so to speak, it has never allowed for that type of what we might call normal politics to emerge. There are issues there that must be considered in the future. The elections we have had should be vindicated. We cannot mess around with that. We should allow the full validity and integrity of those elections to be followed in terms of the restoration of the Executive and the assembly and then, in the fullness of time, in five years’ time, when there is to be a future election, we would have a different system. There is time to review that. It is a necessity. I think it was Deputy Boyd Barrett or Deputy Paul Murphy who raised the question on the way the electoral system currently works. It could be argued that it is polarising and does not allow for the multiplicity of views to come through. Right now, the results of the election must be validated. By that I mean the Executive should be restored, and the First Minister and the deputy First Minister should be as per the election results.
On the film industry, that is an issue I will raise with the Minister, Deputy Martin. It is open to Deputy Boyd Barrett and others to make a submission to the shared island unit in respect of that, although it is more of an industrial relations issue. Broadly speaking, we want to create parity and we want to learn from the experiences North and South, and if the situation is better in the North, then we in the Republic can learn from that in respect of the film industry. We are open to improving our situation in the Republic.
In response to Deputy Bacik’s point on education, I have been passionate about school completion. It is one of the key weaknesses in certain areas within the North. We are very anxious to engage with a Northern Ireland Executive, following on from the ESRI research on school completion in the Republic and in the North on whether lessons can be learned. We would be willing to use the shared island fund to underpin initiatives to help school completion outcomes in the North.
Cabinet Committees
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:9. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [49705/22]
Ivana Bacik
Question:10. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [49902/22]
Mick Barry
Question:11. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53214/22]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:12. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53228/22]
Paul Murphy
Question:13. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53231/22]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:14. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53311/22]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 14, inclusive, together.
The Government co-ordination committee will meet again ahead of the next Government meeting, which is next week. The committee reviews the agenda of Government meetings, discusses political priorities, reviews implementation of a specified element of the programme for Government, and reviews the activity of Cabinet committees. I am a member of the committee, with the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. The Secretary General to the Government, my chief of staff and the chiefs of staff for the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party also sit in on meetings.
The Government party leaders met with senior Ministers early this week on the escalating crisis in emergency housing provision, which has been deepened by the war in Ukraine, but the truth is that it has been years in the making and a result of successive governments turning their face or not supporting public housing provided directly by the State. In the past 12 months, child homelessness in Cork and Kerry has risen by an unbelievable 40%. The blame for this solely lies with the Government’s failed housing policies over the past six years where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been together. The Government has completely failed to get a grip on the issue and the reality now is social housing is no longer a safety net. The housing assistance payment, HAP, has done nothing but push up the price of houses. The Government has no real plan to tackle the crisis. Will the Taoiseach give us any detail on emergency accommodation that will be rolled out in Cork, because the crisis is getting much worse and families and individuals are struggling as they enter homelessness?
Yesterday, I raised the issue of the efforts being made to house Ukrainian refugees and, indeed, others coming here seeking international protection and fleeing persecution abroad. On behalf of the Labour Party, I sought a briefing for Opposition leaders and spokespersons as we are keen to engage constructively with the Government in assisting what has to be a collective national effort to ensure sufficient accommodation is available for those who come here seeking refuge and that we do not see any more people sleeping on the floor in Dublin Airport. What I have heard from communities in my constituency and across the country is real concern that we seem not to have the capacity available, yet we know that capacity is there. Even since yesterday, I have continued to engage with the Government on seeking to put forward proposals for vacant premises that can be used to house those in need of refuge.
I am very concerned to hear that the plan for modular homes is being so delayed. In July, I hosted a briefing in Leinster House with members of the Ukraine civil society forum, and at that point, the members sought a more co-ordinated structure, better management and better communication with local authorities and communities to ensure we would have a short, medium and long-term plan for the housing of refugees. Indeed, that plan had to include modular housing. We now hear that the Office of Public Works, OPW, will install 700 units of modular housing but that these will not come on stream until January and February. It is of concern that there appears to be some opposition to the housing of such sites in different communities. What approach will the Government and the Cabinet committee take now to address this urgent need to ensure accommodation is put in place for refugees, to ensure sufficient homes and units will be available and to ensure we are able to step up?
This morning, I met the Czech delegation. The Czech Government and people have so far housed four times as many refugees from Ukraine per head of population as we have. Members of the delegation expressed great support for Ireland's effort, but we have to be mindful this is a collective effort across Europe.
For months and months, the taxi representative groups such as Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann, the Taxi Alliance, the National Private Hire & Taxi Association, NPHTA, and the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation have been asking the Government to extend the arbitrary ten-year rule on vehicle licensing for taxi drivers to 15 years. A public consultation concluded on 12 October and the views of taxi drivers on this are beyond doubt. They want the extension from ten to 15 years for taxi drivers. Currently, they have to get rid of their vehicle after ten years. Virtually no electric vehicles are available and taxi drivers took a massive financial hit earlier during Covid. Six hundred drivers in January and February are going to have to leave the industry or get finance for a new vehicle they cannot really afford.
They are asking that the results of that public consultation on the Government decision to give them the five-year extension on the vehicle licensing rule be announced now. They have been hearing it is not going to be until 18 November. These 600 drivers need to know now whether the Government is going to extend the ten-year rule, which is a ridiculous rule anyway. If a car passes the national car test, NCT, it is fit for the road, so why on earth do these people have to jump over an extra hurdle at a time when we need taxi drivers?
Thirty-three Ukrainian refugees had to spend a night in Dublin Airport. It is being reported the Government is to use social media to tell Ukrainians there is no accommodation in Ireland. So much for the Ireland of a thousand welcomes. Sometimes people say to me the Government should put its own first, but the problem is precisely that the Government does put its own people first, namely, the corporate landlords, the big developers and those who are sitting on empty properties. There are enough resources in this country to house all the homeless people here and to welcome those who are fleeing war in Ukraine, Syria or elsewhere, but it requires breaking from reliance on the market and, right now, seeking to use the 50,000 properties that have been vacant for six years or more.
In respect of refugees who are attempting to flee conscription in Russia, it is estimated that somewhere between 200,000 and 700,000 people have fled the country. Does the Taoiseach not agree that all those fleeing participation in a war and fleeing conscription should be given refuge? Why would we send men back to Russia to become soldiers in Putin's army?
In the context of Government co-ordination, what is the Government doing to prevent more than 100 people from being evicted from Tathony House? Thirty-five households are being evicted, including many families and children. An entire block of renters is facing mass eviction. The Tyrrelstown amendment was meant to stop these sorts of mass evictions happening, but there are so many loopholes in it that landlords can exploit that it is not effective. In this case, the landlord is claiming financial hardship despite the tenants and renters estimating he gets a rental income of €700,000 from the apartment block. In most European countries, it is completely illegal to evict tenants who are paying their rent. It is just not possible to do that in most European countries but it is allowed here. We should not allow landlords who sell to evict their tenants. What is the Government going to do to prevent these 100 people who face this mass eviction from getting evicted?
I thank the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Gould raised the housing issue. I would disagree with him in terms of his assessment and his presentation of the issues. The factual position is Fianna Fáil has been in government for two and a half years, not six years.
Confidence and supply.
We were not in government-----
But you supported their strategy.
Fianna Fáil has not been in government for six years, as the Deputy said. We have been in government for two and a half years and, since then, we have made significant efforts on the housing issue. It is the biggest social issue facing us. We have a lot more to do but, this year, we have the highest number of housing completions since 2008. We have the highest number of commencements on record, the highest number of planning permissions since 2007, the highest number of first-time buyers, at 16,000, since 2007 and the highest number of home buyers since 2008. Also, the highest number of social houses will be provided this year. Progress is being made and we will reach our target of 25,000 houses this year.
What held the Government back were the two shutdowns during Covid over the past two years, which depressed construction activity in house building but we had to do it because of Covid and the lockdowns. We were then hit with the dramatic increase in the costs of building materials, such as steel, timber and so on, because of the supply chain issues that arose out of the economic recovery from Covid and the war in Ukraine.
Notwithstanding those storms, and we need balance in all this, in fairness, not just the usual knockabout stuff the Deputy and his party go on with, ignoring Covid, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine and just shouting "failure, failure, failure", we have developed solid foundations legislatively through the Land Development Agency, for example, the Affordable Housing Act and various schemes such as the first home scheme to help first-time buyers, in addition to the existing help-to-buy scheme. Fianna Fáil, a party the Deputy attacked, is committed to building more social houses and, along with our colleagues in government, we are determined to do that. Our colleagues in the three Government parties will look at any additional measures that can be brought on board to increase housing supply and get more houses into use for people who need them.
In Cork, some very good work has been done by both Cork City Council and Cork County Council, to be fair.
They are hitting all their targets.
They are proposing cost rental and developing affordable as well as social housing projects, and they are also doing a lot of good work in respect of the Ukrainian situation by creating good projects to house Ukrainians and to co-ordinate work around those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Deputy Bacik raised that issue specifically. I am hoping that meeting can be organised whereby an official could brief party leaders either tomorrow or Friday, whichever can be arranged subject to their own hectic schedules. In the eight months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the State has housed more than 43,000 people. Many more, coming up to 55,000 in total, have come into Ireland and some have been availing of people they already knew and so on. Unlike other countries, we did not have a strong resident Ukrainian population prior to the war. Other countries did and that gave them greater flexibility.
That figure was 43,000, however, In addition, 11,700 people have arrived in Ireland seeking international protection more generally from across the world. In total, we are potentially looking at approximately 60,000 refugees from Ukraine and the rest of the world who have been housed in Ireland. The average annual arrivals under international protection in 2019 numbered 3,500. That figure has risen from 3,500 to 60,000. Deputy Gould said it was coming for years. No, the war was not coming for years-----
Not the war; the housing crisis was coming.
-----and we were acting on that. In terms of the Ukrainian situation, decisions have been taken. Again, we appreciate the constructive role Deputy Bacik has played in terms of giving any potential properties that we can act upon in terms of the call for pledges but also the reconfiguration of existing buildings and development of modular accommodation or as I prefer to call it, rapid-build high-quality housing. Again, that ran into objections and issues. We have to expedite the mechanisms by which we get these projects over the line, which I accept. We even heard this morning on the radio that people have concerns about it and say they want more consultation and more engagement. It is an emergency and we need to get these projects up and running as quickly as we possibly can through both the reconfiguration of existing facilities, which the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is leading, and the development of rapid-build units. We need to do far more of that, more generally, in terms of housing. It could be particularly helpful in terms of dealing with emergency accommodation and the avoidance of homelessness, for example. These are high-quality units. I would argue that they are far superior to some of the existing local authority flats, for example, in some locations. We need to get on with it. We are committed to doing that and refurbishing buildings. The refurbishment programme to date has provided 2,145 beds with another 162 due to come on stream. Buildings with a further capacity 2,805 beds have been identified at various stages of the refurbishment process. All that is under way. There is much more detail but I do not think I need to go into it at this stage.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised a wider issue in terms of the Taxi Alliance. I cannot be the arbiter of what is safe and what is unsafe. We have expert agencies that determine what they believe to be safe and unsafe in terms of roadworthiness and so on. However, I will take the view the Deputy articulated to the Minister to see if that can be re-examined in terms of moving to a ten to 15-year licence, especially given the difficulties procuring electric vehicles. The Deputy should remember that we are not talking about a normal car here. We are talking about a car that would have had a significant degree of usage. I presume it is a safety issue.
If a vehicle passes the NCT, it passes the NCT.
I know but, again, I am open to having it examined. I would just be careful about it. On another day, the Deputy would be very strong in giving out about a lack of safety regulation in other areas of life. He attacks us on housing and on everything else. It could be argued that what he is proposing here could have safety implications. I will get it checked. I will talk to the Minister and have the issue examined.
Deputy Murphy raised the Ukrainian situation. He said we fundamentally need to break from the reliance of the market. We are not relying on the market. The State is the big actor and player now in housing. You name it. This goes across the board with the help-to-buy and first home schemes, which are designed to help first-time buyers. We have quite a large social housing programme. The Croí Cónaithe fund is trying to bridge the viability gap in apartment complexes in brownfield sites to try to get them going.
Giving money to developers is relying on the market.
You name it, the State is getting involved in building and trying to get houses for young people. The State is the provider. We are not relying on the market because the market is not performing to the degree one would like.
(Interruptions).
I am sorry. Deputy O'Callaghan raised the issue of Tathony House. The Tyrrelstown amendment was meant to deal with this issue in terms of block evictions in apartment blocks. I will have to do a further examination but I understand the owner here is claiming there is a depreciation in value. I might be wrong. I will not say anything further than that. We need to examine the basis upon which this is happening and see what we can do to stop it.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 2.04 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3.05 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2.04 p.m. and resumed at 3.05 p.m.